In the United States today, true investigative journalism is rare. Much of the news circulated by mainstream media is only a presentation of information handed down from the government. Major media functions as a gatekeeper of information, creating consensus among Americans on an array of topics including the popularly held beliefs about September 11, 2001. An atmosphere has been created where questioning the official explanation or asking for a reinvestigation is seen as blasphemy. Individuals who do so are labeled anarchist, conspiracy theorist, domestic terrorist, and anti-government. Politicians and other public figures who have voiced concerns about the 9/11 Commission Report have been invited on national news programs only to be pressured to renounce previous statements about 9/11 and publicly reject any affiliation to the group 9/11 Truth. While a critical analysis of the 9/11 Commission Report is absent from mainstream media, a number of questions go unanswered and unrecognized by most Americans.

In the days following 9/11, government officials claimed they never imagined anyone attacking the nation by flying planes into buildings even though warnings of such an event had been given from both within and outside of the US. On August 6, 2001, President Bush was warned by the President’s Daily Brief, headlined, “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.” In the year before 9/11, Italy, Morocco, and Britain released detailed and urgent warnings to the US of planned attacks using planes as weapons where the World Trade Center was given as a specific target. These warnings were forwarded to certain government officials yet no warnings were issued to the American people. The security of our borders and airports were never increased to protect from such a threat. However, surface to air missiles were placed on the roof of the Sarasota Florida resort in which President Bush was staying the night before the attacks. This was not a typical security procedure at the time.

On September 11, 2001, war games were being held by the military and intelligence agencies, which included scenarios of a domestic air crisis, a plane striking a government building, and a large-scale emergency in New York. When it was recognized that morning by air traffic control that several commercial airliners were not responding and were off course, a response was delayed significantly as it was confused with the large scale war game taking place. Fighter jets could have easily intercepted the hijacked planes under ordinary circumstances but the jets of nearby Air Force bases were otherwise occupied. Between September 2000 and June 2001, fighter jets were sent by the FAA to intercept errant aircraft 67 times; such a task was routine whenever a plane would lose radio contact or fly off course. Isn’t it strange that war games mimicking similar terrorist attacks were taking place at the exact time of the actual events of 9/11 causing confusion and leaving such sensitive locations vulnerable to attack? If this was only an incredible series of coincidences, why did the official investigation avoid reporting on this issue?

The questions that arise from looking closely at the events that preceded the attacks are dwarfed by the volumes of unanswered questions about the attackers, the collapse of the buildings, and the financial gains that resulted from the event.When presented with these troubling questions, most Americans will respond, “Do you really think the government would lie to us and deliberately kill innocent Americans for an agenda?” The American invasion of Iraq, an undeclared act of war, began with the claim that Iraq was a threat due to their possession of weapons of mass destruction. It was found that these weapons did not exist and any ties between the 9/11 terrorists and Saddam Hussein were also found false. As of April 2010, more than 31,000 US troops had been seriously injured and over 4,300 soldiers had died.

Unclassified documents reveal that the United States has planned and engaged in a number of false flag attacks throughout recent history. On August 4, 1964, the Vietnamese were accused of engaging in two unprovoked attacks on the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. This incident became a pretext for a war that resulted in over 58,000 US soldier deaths. Nearly 140 top-secret documents declassified by the federal government in 2005 revealed that the second Gulf of Tonkin attack, which catalyzed the US into the Vietnam War, never took place. Similarly, in 1898 Spain was accused of destroying the USS Maine. However, evidence is clear that the naval ship was not attacked by Spain but likely exploded due to a coal fire or an external mine. Although the reason for the Maine’s explosion was unknown at the time, newspapers and American industrial magnates were quick to blame Spain knowing that a war would likely result, and their financial interests in Cuba would be protected from the Spanish. The propaganda of this time may be best represented by the slogan ‘Remember the Maine- To Hell with Spain.’

In 1962, the Pentagon created Operation Northwoods,an effort to build public support for a war against Cuba with the goal of ousting Fidel Castro from power. These plans included destroying a naval ship, hijacking planes, and committing acts of terrorism within US cities that would result in the deaths of innocent citizens. These plans were kept secret for nearly 40 years. Comparably, principals in US foreign policy under the Bush administration created plans in the late 1990s, which clearly stated their intent to invade Iraq for the purpose of “regime change.” In their documentation they openly state that the public and Congress would not accept their agenda therefore transition would be slow “absent a catalyzing and catastrophic event like a new Pearl Harbor.”

Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff under President Obama is quoted as saying, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste — and what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you didn’t think you could do before.” It is clear that the events of 9/11 opened the door for the degradation of Americans’ civil rights, unprecedented intrusions into citizens’ private lives, as well as undeclared and unjustified war. What is not clear is how an event as catastrophic as 9/11 was permitted to happen. If the mainstream media continues to be our source of information, we will certainly never know the answers to such questions.

The majority of Americans have failed to look beyond the television news, radio, and newspapers of major media outlets for information about 9/11. Many have adopted the views of these sources without critical analysis or any outside research. After all, why think for yourself when you can gather your thoughts and opinions from the evening news? In our culture, we have been trained to believe rather than think. The obvious is rejected and the fictitious is accepted. We, the people of this great nation, need to interrupt the transmission of disinformation and demand answers. Do your own research; dig beyond the news presented by the mass media. Although it remains unpopular to ask questions about September 11th, we must summon courage, for, as Thomas Jefferson once said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

Dedicated to the lives lost on September 11th, 2001.

This article was originally published by Pupaganda.